East Coast Bound

We are here! We are here!

I am finally back in the Philadelphia area. This is the first time in three years. It is interesting how much can change in three years. Last time I was visiting I had just met Doug and was navigating the uncertainties of a new relationship. Does he like me? Where will this thing go? Etc. Well, I guess I shouldn't have been worried because here we are three years later (almost to the day), and I can say I think he likes me and we are on a pretty good path on where things are going!

After 11 days in Houston, my mom, Zach and I took off for Philadelphia. This was Zach's second flight and once again he slept the whole time. Yea Zach! We got off the flight, rented a car, then headed off to Mom-mom's house (my mom's mom) for Zach to meet his great grandmother (or mi-mom) for the first time. Zach received a very warm welcome because not only was Mi-Mom waiting, but Mom-mom's friends Mrs. Masayko and Mrs. McKnight were there, and on their way was Aunt Michelle and Mark Anthony, Aunt Joanie, Evan, Ethan and Aunt Patty Hamilton. It is nice that they were as excited as we were. It was so nice to see everyone and even nicer to be in my Mom-mom's (Zach's Mi-Mom) house. A place with so many memories and a place I have very much missed over the years. Doug then flew in from California and joined us there for a bit, before heading over to my cousin Patience and John's house.

Zach and Mi-mom (and I promise, he was happier than he looks).

Mom and Mark Anthony

This trip is Doug's first time visiting my East Coast family. It is a trip we have both been looking forward to for a number of months now and one we can't actually believe is already here. Doug handled his first introduction pretty well. One man and 6 females all catching up at once! It would have been a lot for someone who is around these Hamilton women on a regular basis let alone someone who has only met everyone once at his wedding! So after a bit we headed to my cousin's house, where we not only got to see their new house but also their daughter Leighton who was only 6 weeks old last time we saw her (at our wedding!).

Here is a pic of Patience and John (taken on their previous beach trip).

Patience and John were nice enough to not only have us stay with them during our time here but also have set up everything we needed for Zach so we didn't have to travel with any of his bedding or bathing contraptions. I recommend trying to work this out for anyone who is traveling with little one's. Such a blessing to not have to carry the extra equipment.

I miss my family often but sometimes it gets easier when you forget what you are missing. This trip made me realize once again how much I wish we were all closer together. It was so nice to just hang out and catch up in person with them. And to see how big (plus ADORABLE and HILARIOUS) Leighton has gotten. It was one of the best nights I have had in a while.

I told you Leighton was hilarious.

The next day (Thursday), Doug, my mom, Zach and I went to visit Pop (my dad's dad), Aunt Patti and Connie. Another overdue trip. and I can't believe I forgot to take pictures (AUGH!). It was another house filled with childhood memories and I wish we could have had more time with them but I am so glad were able to have the morning we had.

Later that day we went out on the grand Delaware and Landenberg, Pennsylvania tour. We started with a stop at Sanford. Sanford is where Erin and I went to school from 1992-1998 (Erin through 2000?). Doug finally got to meet Joanie and Stacey Samonisky. The Samonisky's were our second family during our time at Sanford. Mrs. Sam was our field hockey and lacrosse coach plus another mom, friend and role model (still is). This trip was one of the highlights for Doug. He was finally able to put together a lot of my stories with faces and locations, not only with the Samonisky's but with a tour of Sanford (we even got to see Mr. Humpries (Eph) and Mr. Shields). Of course we didn't have nearly all the time we wanted but the time we had was well worth it. We then did the drive through Landenberg which was still beautiful and incredibly surreal to be back there for the first time in 8 years. I had grown up there then left and hadn't really gone back until now, it was trip down memory lane that keeps on going.

Joanie, me, Zach and Stacey (I miss you!) Unfortunately Jenn (aka Juniper Samonisky) wasn't able to make it.

We then went back to the Duke House (aka aunt Chi-chi's house) after a stop at Wawa. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of ever going to a Wawa, it is a convenience store and gas station. Not like the one's you have been to anywhere else, this is a place where you aren't afraid to actually eat or drink something from the store. So we go into the Wawa, walk over to the deli machines to order some sandwiches (or hoagies if you will), mind you I have not used these machines before and neither has Doug, so when trying to erase something I ordered i chose not to listen to Doug and accidentally erased more than the last thing I added, I erased my whole order. Well, this started Doug on a field day, all he kept saying to me was, "I'm from Pennsylvania, I know what I'm doing" ha ha! I think he is just jealous he isn't from Pennsylvania. (I still managed to mess up my whole order).

So we headed over to the Duke's house, then unfortunately found out John had strep throat and was highly contagious. We only were able to stay one night instead of two with Patience, John and Leighton. This second night we moved over to the Duke house where Ryan set us up in his room, he even vacuumed (any single ladies, grab this guy while you can!). So we got resettled at Chi-Chi's (we high jacked Patience's baby supplies with us, thanks again!). Then headed into Philadelphia to visit with Jenn and Travis Windholz, friends of ours who are living in Philadelphia while Travis is getting his MBA at Warton (UPENN). We took Zach (so we could show him off some more) and had a great night catching up at a really good Italian restaurant. We also shared a great bottle of wine Travis and Jenn had picked up on their recent trip to France. As I was never of drinking age living in PA, I finally got to see what my parents had always talked about in regard to the BYOB's in Philly. Liquor licences are tough to come by there, but thanks to the Windholz's travels it worked in our favor. Zach was great (as usual, I am such a bragger!) and put on a show of smiles for Jen. Sadly we finally had to leave and after an unplanned tour of Philadelphia, due to some road closures, we finally made it back and crashed in what can only be described as the most comfortable bed ever! Thank you again Ryan!

Jenn and Zach at their great Philly Loft.

Friday morning came too soon, as Doug and I could have slept forever. But we were still excited because we would be heading to the beach (or should I say the Jersey Shore) to see the rest of the Hamilton Family and hopefully relax a little. We packed up the mini-van, then mom, Doug, Zach, mom-mom and I drove down to Sea Isle City, NJ, (after another trip to Wawa) where it couldn't have been more perfect weather. We stayed at my Aunt Frannie and Uncle Rich's house overlooking the bay, Doug and i went on a bike ride, my dad and Erin finally arrived, then we headed over to my cousin's rehearsal dinner and a VERY late night at the Borgata (or the Borgats as Doug liked to say imitating a good friend).

All the Hamilton Cousins. The older picture pros decided we would let the 2nd generation cousins join in.

It was a whirlwind couple of days as it always is when trying to fit everything and everyone in on our visits, but it was the best 5 day trip I have been on in a VERY long time. We love and miss you all.

Visiting Aunt Kelly and Uncle Thomas

Thomas decided to teach Zach his signature "How you do-in" stare.



Zach and I went over to Kelly's new apartment on Sunday night to hang out. Zach made quite the impression, spitting up on just about everything new she had!

Poor Kelly smiled through it all. I think Zach was testing his aunt and uncle boundaries already.

Zach's 1st Play date

We are very lucky to have met Kim and Louis Pacella while living out in California. I work with Kim and coincidentally we got pregnant only a few months apart. Kim was a great resource during my pregnancy as she was roughly 12 weeks ahead of me. Thanks to Kim, we had a great OB, and now a pediatrician, along with good friends.

(Yes, those dimples and eyelashes are real!)

On May 12, Nicholas was born. By default Nicholas is now Zach's first friend. Here are some shots of their first play date.

"Psst....Just wait until they see what we can get into!"

(Nicholas is almost 4 months old in these photos, Zachary is 6 weeks old).

Dom's California Visit

Our good friend Dom came to visit us this weekend and more importantly meet Zach for the first time. Dom was a natural with the baby. Doug and I aready decided he can babysit any time he wants!

We went to the Reagan Library in Simi Valley on Saturday. Neither Doug nor I had been yet. It was pretty impressive. Not only was the exhibit well done, it had the added benefit of showcasing an authentic Air Force One from the Reagan presidency and was built on part of the orignal Reagan Ranch. The views of the Valley were beautiful.Dom was doing his best secret service pose, while Zach and I tried to avoid the cameras.

The other big news of the weekend was the imtroduction of Guitar Hero. For those of you not familiar with this game you will soon begin to hear about it every other day. This game plays into every man's (and woman's) desire to be a rock star. Doug has decided to practice often so he can maybe beat my dad, who plays the real guitar.

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Zachary McGowan Walker

July 17, 2007

4:16 pm

7 pounds

19 inches

(3 weeks early)

Zachary is the newest member of the Walker family. 

He  joined us a little earlier than planned but is doing fantastic.

We couldn't be happier or more in love with the little man.

Happy Birthday Zach!

Week 32: 8 more to go.........

Week 32! Less than weeks to go until baby (he better be on time!).

Good Afternoon one and all!
I hope this email finds you well. We are less than 8 weeks away from the big due date and time seems to be slowing. I couldn't believe we finally reached 30 weeks a few days back. I sat there thinking about how fast this has all gone by. Somehow these 8 months have been both the longest and shortest of my life. Doug and I were talking today about the last 3 years together and how our wedding seemed just like yesterday, then he followed up with, but man it feels like you have been pregnant FOREVER! I am struggling now in trying not to will the summer away and making sure I am enjoying these warmer, sunny months (wait, I live in California, summers are a little grayer? but it is a little warmer, those blustery days of 60 degrees can be brutal!), but part of me is counting every second of every day waiting for this little boy to get here. Some call this excitement, others Anxiety, I simply think I may need some help.

So what does 32 weeks mean to me! Well, as you can tell by my delay in sending out a new update..... Procrastination comes to mind. Along with Exhaustion. I was feeling guilty today knowing I have been meaning to write this email and just haven't done it yet. But then laughed when I pulled up my email drafts realizing I have 3 emails in there labeled, 29 weeks, 30 weeks and 31 weeks, so you know my intentions were good. Obviously none of these emails were finished, and while I didn't want to mess up the counting system I thought it was definately time to actually SEND an email!

So here it goes........... I keep hearing about this nesting thing. Nesting, where one wants to clean the house, pull everything together, finish uncompleted tasks, clean out closets, rearrange furniture, do the laundry, dust, vacuum, wash dishes, take out trash (oh wait, are they supposed to be everyday tasks?). I am waiting for this to hit. I am also wondering if it applys to emails?? hmmm.......... Also does nesting happen to husbands? Now that would be a great Pregnancy Symptom!

You know what is not a great pregnancy symptom (if I was looking for raised hands I would not ask Doug or my mom! knowing grumpiness would be among their first answer, though I am sure they could also think of a few more!). The one I am thinking of is SHORTNESS OF BREATHE, which I learned from the doctor yesterday is written in shorthand as SOB (VERY APPROPRIATE!). I am starting to take bets on how long this baby is. I think I might have a basketball player inside me or if not some sort of miniature YOGI (not the bear), who is perfecting each yoga posse before he actually gets out. Each of these stretches seems to involve my diaphram (for balance of course). At least he will be ready for our baby yoga classes in the fall. Good thing we live in California, I will have to look up one of those oxygen bars (ok so maybe they were "Hot" a few years ago, but some group of goofy Californians must still go right? and I know you are thinking maybe she is one of those goofy californians now, baby yoga and oxygen bars......hmmm).

We went in for some breathing tests yesterday just to make sure my SOB wasn't anything more serious, and while they were quite thorough (we were there for 5 hours), the didn't find anything concerning. My official diagnosis was.................Pregnancy. Which was wonderful to hear, but unfortunately doesn't help me breathe any better. Overall though I am still doing great, even with these slight aggravations (like my positive attitude! ha! It translates well on paper).

We have a Dr.'s appointment on Monday for the final ultrasound to guage/estimate how big the baby is and predict how big he will be at/around delivery time. At the last appointment we found out he is now head down. This is a great sign and proves he is an overacheiver. Most babies flip down around 32-35 weeks. This smarty-pants moved at 30 weeks (or at least that is when the appt was to notice (of course he probably moved earlier!)).

Just to compare here is where he should be....................................

Your Baby: At almost 4 pounds (2 kg) in weight and 19 inches (48 cm) in length, your baby is nearly filling up your entire uterus. Most of the time his head will be facing upward, but there's still enough room to somersault now and then. In his spare time, baby is getting ready for his first loving look at Mom, as she practices opening and closing her eyes. Baby's skin is also becoming less wrinkled, as layers of fat continue to plump out the body. His fingernails have grown in completely. Some babies have a head of hair already, while others have only peach fuzz. Your baby is taking up a lot of space in your uterus, but those tight quarters shouldn't reduce her activity level. You may have heard that it's normal for babies to slow down later in pregnancy, but that's not true.

Enjoy your summer! I will try to be more on top of my emails, as I know they are the highlight to your day (your really dull, desperate for something to do, why hasn't perezhilton updated anything in the last couple hours or is there anything on espn besides men's amateur bowling kind of day!).

PS. we have some good friends moving to Philadelphia this fall, so those of you in the area I will be calling on you for some help! Thanks in advance.

Love you and miss you all.

Doug, Ally, her SOB and the baby (just in case you needed the reminder I was not referring to him or me any other way).

Week 27, Second Trimester, They say I will miss you............

Pregnancy: Week 26!
Good bye Second Trimester, They say I'll miss you...

This email wouldn't be appropriate unless I started with a giant THANK YOU! Last weekend I was in Houston, where I had a wonderful time and was thrown an incredible baby shower by Pam Townsend, Christy Evans, Kelly Walker and Erin McGowan. I also want to thank my mom and Mary for all of their help in putting this shower together as well. It was so nice to see everyone and I am still in awe of all the wonderful and generous gifts we received. I now must learn to not only build these gifts but also figure out how to use them. While I don't feel completely clueless as this excerpt I am about to share is, I still think it is funny enough to mention in this email.

This if a photo of Pam and Kelly, two of the shower hosts and my very good friends.

And a photo of one of the best petit fours ever made, yum.............

I am probably not alone in missing FRIENDS but I now can relate to this very funny episode.

Mrs. Green: Rachel, you must get a nanny. You don't know how overwhelming this is going to be. I mean, when you were a baby, I had full-time help. I had Mrs. Kaye.

Rachel: Mrs. Kaye! Oh, she was sweet. She taught me spanish. I actually think I remember some of it. "Tu madre es loca."

Mrs. Green: Such a sweet woman.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Katherine: It's a diaper genie

Rachel: Oh, it dispenses clean diapers!

Katherine: No, it's where you put the dirty ones!

Rachel: Well, that's gross. Why don't you just take it outside and throw it in a dumpster?

Mrs. Green: Well, are you going to do that ten times a day?
Rachel: It goes ten times a day? What are we feeding this baby, Indian food?

So as we start putting together these gifts, I am sure I will also have to find some sort of restraining system to keep Doug from "testing" these toys first as well. I can already picture him just "trying" out the cradle swing or seeing how good the movement sensor is on the baby monitor (as he holds his breathe shouting down the stairs, "Is it beeping yet?"). The good news is we all know this little boy is going to have a wonderfully hands on father, along with our incredibly supportive friends and family. Thank you again.

I still feel great (knock on wood). The only complaint I have is shortness of breathe. When I asked the Doctor about this last week, he replied with "Welcome to the third trimester", well, at least he is honest. And one of the reason's we liked him early on was for his candor. Funny thing is I liked his candor more when he was telling me to ignore most of the restrictions in baby books and on the web, his main thought in all of this is live your life and do everything you did before in moderation, not at all like some of the Strict and Forbidding advice I have heard from others.

The baby is moving around a lot more now. I thought it was strange just to feel him moving, but now I watch my stomach do this weird wave type mood or all of a sudden jiggle funny (ok, no mean comments here), it is pretty strange, but wonderful at the same time. I probably shouldn't share this but he becomes much more active when cold hands touch my belly. We learned this very quickly as my sister would rub ice on her hands for ten minutes then procede to freeze me! Yes, he would move alot, then I would move a lot trying to plot revenge against Erin. Everyone else will just have to take our word! "


How your baby's growing: Your baby is really starting to fill up your uterus. This week he weighs almost 2 pounds and is about 14.4 inches long with his legs extended. He can now open and close his eyes, and he sleeps and wakes at regular intervals. He may suck his fingers, and although his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with assistance — if he were to be born prematurely. Chalk up any rhythmic movement you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and isn't bothersome to him, so enjoy the tickle. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. Wonder what he's thinking?

Happy Early Mother's Day everyone. We love you and miss you.

Ally and Doug